But then, honorable men did not frequent this place. Takashi handed his swords over without complaint.
The sign outside the sake house declared its name: "The Place of Forgetfulness." The regulars had another name for it: "The Place You Do Not Leave." During the Clan War, it had been a meetinghouse for refugees from the Scorpion lands. The man at the door had been a Scorpion samurai who kept your swords safe and honed them while you drank, the geisha had been Shosuro trained, and in the corner, infiltrators had recieved their assignments. All of that was different now. The man at the door was someone Takashi did not recognize, the geisha were Bog Hags as often as not, and in the corner, a minor scuffle was starting over who would have the attentions of a woman who was sitting nearby, hiding her smile behind her fan.
The sake house still served the shadows. Now, however, those shadows had no faces and no names...
Takashi had been sent here in pursuit of a shadow which still had a name. Bayushi Areru had stopped checking in with his contact five weeks ago, and his last mission--to kidnap the only son of the Unicorn now in control of Ryoko Owari--had gone uncompleted. He was generally assumed to have been discovered and killed, but Aramoro had known better, and had made a rare personal appearance to direct Takashi to this place, and to that man.
"How will I recognize him?" Takashi had asked.
"His face changes with each dawn, and he has taught his eyes to lie. You will know him by his acts."
Now, in the doorway of the sake house, Takashi looked about slowly. The quarrel in the corner was growing louder, and the proprietor had hurried over and was trying to prevent bloodshed. Everyone had looked up as the door opened, but now they turned their eyes back to whatever imagined vista had held their attentions before. All except one, who looked at him carefully from a shadowed corner. The look was measuring, as though the man was deciding whether or not Takashi was someone he had been told to look for. Eventually, his eyes dropped back to his sake.
Him. He was the one.
Takashi made his way over to Areru’s table slowly, being careful not to jostle anyone on the way. He sat down without asking permission and gave a greeting slightly too hearty for the locale, as though he were a naive local who knew no better. Areru responded with a grunt, making it clear that he did not want visitors. Takashi, feigning having missed the none-too-subtle signals, began talking about the harvest, and wasn’t it bad this year, and wasn’t it a shame that Yoritomo had chosen this particular spot as his training ground?
As he talked, Takashi drew a bag of fine powder out of his deep red kimono and held it upside down, keeping the opening closed between pinched fingers. When the server came around with more sake for the two of them, Takashi helpfully stood and took Areru’s sake, saving him the trouble of getting it. As he did so, he opened his fingers ever so slightly, and permitted a bit of the powder to slip into the drink. Takashi swirled the liquid slightly as he set it down in front of the ninja, and then took up his own cup and sipped slightly.
Areru, in turn, picked up his sake and put the cup to his lips. But when he put it back down, Takashi noticed that the amount of sake in the cup was the same as before. None had passed Areru’s lips.
Although Takashi gave no external indication of his frustration, he cursed inwardly. The Kirei- ko was to have been the easy way of dealing with the traitor.
Now, things got harder.
Takashi continued making small talk as he considered his options. He could try to take Areru with the tanto hidden in his kimono, but the odds were that Areru had taken similar precautions, and a protracted knife fight would bring the magistrates. He could wait for Areru to leave, and then follow him--but it was twilight now, and he would be trying to track a Shadow through the shadows. He could, of course, simply leave and await another opportunity.
However, Areru knew now that he was in danger, and would be more cautious in the future. It would be foolish of a Scorpion to let go of prey he already had in his claws, awaiting only the final sting.
Finally, he settled on his plan. He would follow Areru out, and then put an end to him in the courtyard outside. It was not as dramatic as having the ninja convulse his life away in the shadow’s own stronghold, but it would do.
In the corner, one of the belligerents drew a blade which he had kept hidden under his obi and lashed out at the other man. The guard ran towards them, and as he did so, Areru stood and began moving quickly towards the door. It was possible that he had spotted his target, or perhaps he had simply decided that it would be healthier to be somewhere else. No matter. Takashi stood with him, babbling something about not traveling alone in dangerous times as he judged the distance to his daisho.
Just close enough to where he was, and just close enough to the door after that. Areru pushed a chair over as he walked, and then another, forcing Takashi to step around them or risk tripping. He had been on pace to grab his daisho and step outside right behind Areru; now, he would emerge moments after. The ninja would have time to prepare.
No matter. No doubt. To be a samurai is to be certain that you can do anything.
Takashi took his daisho off the pegs on the wall, ignoring the sound of metal biting into wood behind him. As the guard cursed and threw the unarmed man into a table, he thrust his swords into his obi. Then Takashi’s mind was clear, and his right hand rested lightly on his katana. He stepped outside.
As he cleared the doorway, the fading light of sunset glinted off a ninja-to swinging around at throat level, too low to duck. Takashi drew his katana and brought it into a high guarding position in one swift motion.
The thin, straight blade whistled through the cold evening air for an instant before it struck his katana and simply shattered. Bits of metal struck his kimono and exposed flesh, scoring tens of small cuts and causing his concentration to waver. Takashi swept his sword over his left shoulder and into a ready position as he spun to face Areru.
But Areru was not there. In the moment that Takashi had needed to recover from the ninja’s first assault, Areru had turned and begun racing down the street. Takashi, his focus restored, did not notice the hissing sound at his feet as he started to follow--
--Only to be halted in his tracks by a loud crack and a burst of light.
Stumbling to a halt, Takashi swept his katana all around to ward off potential attackers as he blinked his eyes to clear them. By the time his vision had been restored, Areru was nowhere to be seen; he had fled into the shadows, and they had closed behind him.
Bayushi Takashi sheathed his katana. The traitor had narrowly escaped him. Worse, Areru knew now that he was being hunted, and would be harder to find the next time.
No matter. Bayushi Takashi began to walk down the street. He would find the traitor again, sooner or later. And when he did, he would remind Areru just how far the Scorpion’s tail could reach. Above, the moon saw two men dragging themselves out of a sake house, a shadow leaping across the rooftops--
--and a Scorpion, patient as always.